Cloud of Shadow
| rarity = Rare | type = Town Enchantment | casting_cost = | upkeep_cost = | research_cost = | effects = Every battle taking place at the target town will be under an effect similar to a Darkness spell. }} Cloud of Shadow is a Rare Town Enchantment belonging to the realm. It may only be cast on the overland map. For the base Casting Cost of , the spell engulfs the target town in dark clouds. Any battle taking place at this town while Cloud of Shadow is still affecting it will have a special set of combat effects applied, identical to the Darkness spell. This makes all Fantastic Creatures from the realm (including the Undead) stronger, while making creatures from the realm weaker. The effect lasts as long as you keep paying its Upkeep Cost of per turn, or as long as it is not dispelled or canceled manually. Effects Cloud of Shadow summons a blanket of thick black clouds to cover the sky above the target Town, giving combat bonuses to Fantastic Creatures from the fighting to defend it (including the Undead), and penalties to creatures from the realm. These bonuses and penalties apply in each and every battle taking place at this town, and cannot be dispelled during a battle. Darkness : While Cloud of Shadow is affecting a town, each and every battle taking place in the town's tile is considered as being under the effect of the Darkness spell. Darkness gives the following bonuses to each and every Fantastic Unit belonging to the , including any Undead units: * bonus to Melee Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Melee Attack at all). * (or or as appropriate) bonus to Ranged Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Ranged Attack at all). * +1 bonus to any damage-dealing Special Attacks the unit possesses (including Fire Breath, Thrown Attack, et cetera). * bonus to the unit's Defense score. * bonus to the unit's Resistance score. Simultaneously, Darkness also gives the following penalties to each and every Fantastic Unit belonging to the : * penalty to Melee Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Melee Attack at all). * (or or as appropriate) penalty to Ranged Attack strength (if the unit possesses a Ranged Attack at all). * -1 penalty to any damage-dealing Special Attacks the unit possesses (including Fire Breath, Thrown Attack, et cetera). * penalty to the unit's Defense score. * penalty to the unit's Resistance score. For more information about the significance of these bonuses, read the article on Darkness. Automatic Area Effect Cloud of Shadow does not actually cast Darkness each time the battle begins. Instead, it has an area effect that does not require any casting (nor any expenditure of ), and cannot be dispelled during the battle. Subsequently, the Darkness effect will not appear in the Combat Enchantments window on the battle screen, but instead will appear in the "Info" display (where it is labeled "Cloud of Darkness"). Note that it is nonetheless impossible to cast Darkness during such a battle to gain cumulative bonuses. The game will object to this, claiming that Darkness is already in effect. Usage Cloud of Shadow may only be cast on the overland map, for a basic Casting Cost of . It may be targeted at any friendly Town which does not already have a Cloud of Shadow spell effecting it. When the spell is cast, the game automatically opens a town-information window showing the contents of the target town. A few moments later, the sky above the town will be covered with dark clouds, and only a few faint beams of light will shine through to the town below. This indicates that the town is under the influence of this spell. The dark clouds will remain in the town's information screen as long as the spell remains in effect. At the start of each turn, the casting wizard must pay an Upkeep Cost of to keep Cloud of Shadow active. Failure to pay this cost due to lack of available will cause the spell to dissipate immediately. If you've placed Cloud of Shadow on a town, you may remove it by examining the town's details and clicking the text reading "Cloud of Shadow" in the town's Enchantments list. The primary reason to do this would be in order to remove the spell's Upkeep Cost, thus conserving for other spells. Acquisition As a Rare spell, Cloud of Shadow may become available to any Wizard who possesses at least Spellbooks. However, its availability during the game is not guaranteed unless the Wizard acquires at least Spellbooks. Customized Wizards possessing Spellbooks at creation time may choose this spell as one of their default spells before starting the game, in which case the spell will already be researched and available for casting immediately on the first turn. Wizards with to Spellbooks have a random chance of being able to Research Cloud of Shadow during the game. The chance for this spell to appear for research increases with the number of Spellbooks the Wizard possesses or obtains during gameplay. With or Spellbooks, the spell is guaranteed to appear for Research at some point, if it is not already available for casting. Cloud of Shadow has a base Research Cost of . With at least Spellbooks, the Cloud of Shadow spell may be acquired as a reward for winning encounters in creature Lairs, Towers, et cetera, or when conquering the Fortress of a rival wizard who has already researched this spell. Strategy Cloud of Shadow is a good spell to cast in lieu of re-casting Darkness repeatedly. Its only other benefit is that it cannot be dispelled during combat, so the main reason to cast the spell is to have Darkness constantly in effect. This comes in handy when a Town is coming under attack repeatedly, for instance a town right on the borders of a hostile enemy empire. Naturally, you'll want to defend the town with creatures to benefit from the spell. Cloud of Shadow works even better if the enemy attacking the town often consists of creatures. In this case you gain both benefits from the spell: bonuses to creatures and penalties to creatures. Remember that as with Darkness, the spell benefits all creatures on the battlefield. Therefore, do not cast this spell when the town is expecting to see combat with enemy creatures and/or the Undead - you'll end up giving them bonuses as well! Category:Town Enchantments Category:Death